Citizenship and the crises of welfare states

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Citizenship and the crises of welfare states

• Janet Newman
• The Open University, UK
• j.e.newman_at_open.ac.uk

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Why citizenship?

• The focus of governmental projects
• (how to be an active citizen)
• The focus of hopes for renewal
• (activist and angry citizens)
• (citizens doing it for themselves)

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Citizenship and welfare states

• Citizenship as national status
• Citizenship as solidaristic
• Citizenship as the focus of expansive claims on
  the state
• Citizenship as the basis of democratic legitimacy

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Citizenship and welfare states

• Citizenship as national status
• Citizenship as solidaristic
• Citizenship as the focus of expansive claims on
  the state
• Citizenship as the basis of democratic legitimacy

• Challenge of mobility, challenge of globalisation
  of problems
• Challenge of accommodating difference
• Challenges of redistribution and recognition
• Challenge of disaffection

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Political narratives of crisis

• Crisis of dependency
• Crisis of individualisation and consumerism
• Crisis of social cohesion

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Crisis of dependency

• Government has an interest in promoting active
  citizenship because it
• Will help people and communities find common
  solutions to shared problems
• Can generate social capital
• Can stimulate collective efficacy
• Can achieve co-production
• Can be a progression route from civic involvement
  to support of democratic and public service
  infrastructure (DCLG 2008 15)

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Narrative of consumerism

• In an era of mass production needs were regarded
  as identical and preferences were ignored. Today,
  successful services thrive on their ability to
  respond to the individual needs of their
  customers.
• We live in a consumer age. Services have to be
  tailor-made not mass-produced, geared to the
  needs of users not the convenience of producers.
  The NHS has been too slow to change its ways of
  working to meet modern patient expectations for
  fast, convenient, 24 hour, personalised care
  (Department of Health 2000 2.9-2.12).

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Crisis of cohesion

• Worklessness and a weak neighbourhood economy is
  personally damaging for the individuals involved,
  undermining personal confidence and their power
  to contribute to society, not just economically
  but through decision-making and community
  activities.

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Crisis of cohesion contd

• High levels of worklessness can
• Undermine community cohesion
• Create conditions for increase in crime and
  anti-social behaviour, reducing the quality of
  life for all residents
• Reduce the possibility of private sector
  investment (in deprived neighbourhoods)
• DCLG 2008, 18

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Producing the active citizenship

• The citizen consumer
• The responsible citizen
• The participative citizen
• (Cf the rights bearing, litigious citizen)

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Differentiation, weak control
Network governance
Self governance
Legitimacy based on outputs/outcomes
Process legitimacy
Managerial governance
Hierarchical governance
Integration, strong control
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Differentiation, weak control
The responsible citizen
The participative citizen
Legitimacy based on outputs/outcomes
Process legitimacy
The citizen consumer
The rights bearing citizen
Integration, strong control
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Gendering governance
Women as negotiators, facilitators, partners
Women as carers, womens role in civil society
Paternalism, patriarchy Equality rules, norms
Women as social entrepreneurs Women as
consumers Elasticity of womens labour
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Studying the active citizen

• How are discourses mediated by organisations,
  professions?
• How are discourses lived, practiced by citizens?

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Comparative project

• Problems of methodological nationalism

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Comparative project

• Problems of methodological nationalism
• Problems of methodological statism

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Comparative project

• Problems of methodological nationalism
• Problems of methodological statism
• Problems of discourse and politics

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2 paradoxes

• Active citizens and political renewal v angry
  citizens and political retrenchment
• New legitimacy for states (in financial crisis)
  and decline of legitimacy for politics

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Sources

• Newman, J and Clarke, J Publics, Politics and
  Power remaking the public in public services.
  Sage, 2009.
• Clarke, J et al Creating citizen-consumers Sage
  2007
• Barnes, M, Newman J and Sullivan H Power,
  participation and political renewal Policy Press
  2007
• Newman, J Modernising Governance Sage 2001
• Newman, J Remaking Governance Policy Press 2005
• www.open.ac.uk/ccig